Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has said in the build-up to Sunday’s trip to Anfield that Liverpool have been benefiting from lots of luck in recent matches.

Liverpool started the weekend top of the Premier League table, before Manchester City beat Everton 3-1 on Saturday, and have the chance to return to the summit by taking three points against United.

Mourinho’s side go into Sunday’s match a mammoth 16 points behind Jurgen Klopp’s team but Jose has a fine record against the German and appeared to attempt some pre-match mind games.

Quoted by the Mail on Sunday, Mourinho pointed out that Liverpool had been on the right side of fortune in three of their last four matches.

Jose referenced Liverpool’s 1-0 win over Everton which saw them score a freak goal in stoppage time, their 4-0 victory over Bournemouth where their opener was controversial and Tuesday’s 1-0 Champions League triumph over Napoli who had a glorious chance to equalise at the death.

“I think they are, of course, very confident about themselves,” said Mourinho. “They are top of the league, they have this feeling of the ‘Lucky Ones’ where everything goes in your direction.”

After handing Liverpool the Lucky Ones nickname, Mourinho added: “They know how they beat Everton, they know that the opening goal in their last league match was offside (against Bournemouth) and they know against Napoli they could be out of the Champions League in the last seconds.

“They have this feeling – that I also had when my teams were top of the league – when it looks like everything goes in your direction.”